Mark Maloney on Kentucky sports

Hockey player Caitlin Cahow, equestrian rider Steffen Peters and the U.S. Women’s National Hockey Team were named Thursday as winner of the Athletes and Team of the Month for April, as determined by the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Cahow, from Branford, Conn., split time at forward and defense while helping Team USA to its second straight title in the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships. She anchored the U.S. power-play and penalty-kill units, netting two goals and four assists over five games. Included were two goals in the 4-1 gold-medal game victory over Canada, as Team USA finished 4-0-1. Cahow, 23, was on the bronze-medal U.S. Olympic team in 2006.

Equestrian Steffen Peters aboard Ravel. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Peters, the Male Athlete of the Month, became the first U.S. rider to win both legs of the Rolex/FEI World Cup Dressage Final. The San Diego rider, aboard Ravel, put up the best score of his career to defeat two of the three medalists who finished ahead of him at last summer’s Beijing Olympics.

Results

Women

1. Caitlin Cahow, Ice Hockey

2. Anna Tunnicliffe, Sailing (Gold medal in Laser Radial at Hyeres, France, site of the French Olympic Sailing Week from April 18-24 and the fourth event on the ISAF Sailing World Cup calendar.)

3. Clarissa Chun, Wrestling (Won her second national championship with a victory in the 49 kg/105.5 lbs. division at the U.S. Women’s National Championships in Las Vegas on April 9; named the Outstanding Wrestler of the Tournament and did not allow a point in four matches. Two weeks later, Chun won a gold medal at the Pan American Championships.)

Men

1. Steffen Peters, Equestrian

2. Jack Campbell, Ice Hockey (All-tournament tam goalie for the U.S. Men’s Under-18 National Team that won the World Championships, shutting out Russia in the gold-medal game. Finished with a 4-0 record, a 0.75 goals-against average and a .967 save percentage with two shutouts.)

3. Keith Sanderson, Shooting (Gold-medal iwinner n the 25-meter Rapid Fire Pistol event at the International Shooting Sport Federation Rifle/Pistol World Cup in Beijing on April 22. A week earlier, won the silver medal in the Men’s Rapid Fire at the ISSF World Cup in Changwon, Korea.)

Team

1. U.S. Women’s National Team, Ice Hockey

2. ISU World Team Trophy Team, Figure Skating (Struck gold inthe inaugural event at Tokyo, scoring 60 points to edge Canada (54) and Japan (50). Team USA: Evan Lysacek (men’s winner), Jeremy Abbott (men, fifth), Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto (ice dance winners), Caroline Zhang (ladies, third), Rachael Flatt (ladies, fourth) and Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett (pairs, fourth).)

3. U.S. Fed Cup Team, Tennis (Squad of Melanie Oudin, Alexa Glatch, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Liezel Huber advanced to the Fed Cup Finals for the first time since 2003 by defeating host Czech Republic, 3-2, in the semifinals April 25-26. The U.S. will play Italy in the Fed Cup Final in November.

Jeremy Abbott

Figure skater Jeremy Abbott, tennis player Serena Williams and the Women’s National Under-18 Hockey Team were named Tuesday as Athletes and Team of the Month for January by the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Abbott won the U.S. Figure Skating Championship by beating, among others, two-time champ Evan Lysacek and three-time winner Johnny Weir. At 23, Abbott is the oldest first-time national champion since Rudy Galindo in 1996. The win also give Abbott a spot in next month’s World Championships.

Williams swept the singles and doubles titles at the Australian Open, going 10-1 for the month. She won the Aussie singles title by defeating Dinara Safina 6-0, 6-3, a day after teaming with sister Venus to take the doubles crown. Serena, regaining the No. 1 singles ranking, now has 10 major singles titles and eight majors in doubles.

U18 Team USA

The under-18 hockey squad won the International Ice Hockey Federation World Women’s U18 Championship for the second year in a row. Team USA finished 5-0, outscoring opponents 58-4. Included was an 18-0 semifinals victory over the Czech Republic, followed by a 3-2 overtime victory of Canada in the finals. Kendall Coyne (Palos Heights, Ill.), who scored the game winner against Canada, led tournament goal-scorers with eight.

Her teammates: Brittany Ammerman of New Jersey; Blake Bolden of Ohio; Corinne Boyles and Megan Bozek of Illinois; Kate Brock, Jillian Dempsey and Jackie Young of Massachusetts; Caroline Campbell of Missouri; Brianna Decker, Alex Kelter, Jamie Kenyon, Amanda Kessel and Alex Rigsby of Wisconsin; Lindsey Fry of Arizona; Alex Nelson of Minnesota; Meagan Mangene of New York; Amanda Pelkey of Vermont, and Madison Packer and Taylor Wasylk of Michigan.

Results

Men — 1. Jeremy Abbott, figure skating; 2. Steve Mocco, wrestling; 3. Tyler Walker, Paralympic skiing.

Women — 1. Serena Williams, tennis; 2. Lindsey Vonn, Alpine skiing; 3. Alissa Czisny, figure skating.

Team — 1. U.S. Women’s National Under-18 Hockey Team; 2. Bob/Mike Bryan, tennis; 3. Keauna McLaughlin/Rockne Brubaker, figure skating